


One Abyss to Another

by coconutcluster



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: DRABBLE DRABBLE DRABBLE, Late night talks, M/M, because i got angsty one night and wanted to write about the ocean, existential fluff but still kinda fluff!, fluff!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-30 22:20:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19412569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coconutcluster/pseuds/coconutcluster
Summary: The Imagination at three a.m. is different than Virgil expects, in a lot of ways.





	One Abyss to Another

**Author's Note:**

> ya ever just get existential? would you rather contemplate the world or project onto fictional characters about it? jokes on you i can multitask and did both. enjoy!

“I wanted to thank you, by the way.”

Virgil has never been this far out in the Imagination - or maybe the Imagination has just never existed like this while he’s visited. Either way, the cliff his legs dangle carelessly from gives an entirely new view, full of miles and miles of glittering ocean and navy sky, dotted with silvery stars that seem to wink down at him. A breeze carries the smell of salt up to his spot in the grass; it brushes his bangs out of his eyes, and for once, he makes no move to push them back into place. It’s calmer here, he thinks to himself, and his voice is deafening in its careful silence. 

“For what?” Roman makes no effort to whisper, as Virgil feels he should. It makes swallowing his anxiety a bit easier.

“For not hating me for being me,” he replies slowly, fingertips curling into the grass, dark green under the moon’s light. “I mean- being Anxiety. Anymore.” Roman gives an owlish blink. “I just- I know we still don’t usually get along, but it’s nice to know it’s because of our personalities, not just… what I am. I’m glad you don’t hate me for something I can’t control. It’s a relief, y’know?”

Roman’s mouth forms a small _o_ , and the pair falls back into silence as Virgil turns back to watch the gentle lapping of waves far below them. His eyes droop, just a bit, and he’s glad he’s found this little spot in Thomas’ mind, even if it’s not his own - insomnia is far more bearable with the ocean as his companion. 

“I don’t hate you.”

And now it’s Roman’s voice that seems thunderous against the night’s serenity. 

“What?”

“We disagree a lot,” the prince continues as Virgil stares at him, brow furrowed, “but I don’t hate you, Virgil. You don’t deserve to be hated, Anxiety or oppositional or whatever.”

A small “oh” finds its way out of Virgil’s mouth before he can stop it. It hangs in the air for a second, mingling with the breeze just as much as the ocean salt around them, and Roman seems to take it as an answer as he leans forward a bit, peering over edge of the cliff. It makes Virgil wonder if the creative Side has visited this spot over and over, greeting it with familiarity now as his eyes trace the moonbeams dancing on the water’s surface, or if the grass beneath them is as new to Roman as it is to Virgil. 

“I don’t hate you, either.” He trains his eyes on a blade of grass, twirling it between his fingers and following its movements, even when he feels Roman’s inquisitive gaze trained on him. “Not that you said I did, but… I don’t.” 

He sees a crooked smile in his peripheral. “Well, that’s good.” 

Virgil just hums in response. 

He - for some odd, inexplicable reason - hadn’t expected to find Roman here when he’d come traipsing through the trees. It was sometime after three in the morning when he’d stumbled out of bed and to the twisting door of the Imagination, scarcely a complete thought in his head as he pushed through with fatigued limbs; it was a bit of shock to feel cool grass beneath his bare feet, the dampness of the air on his exposed arms, the solidity of it all against his bleary mind. He’d made his way through a thin cluster of trees that seemed to droop over his head likes arched gateways and followed the rhythmic lapping in the distance, and he noticed, in a moment of clarity between foggy thoughts, that the smell of salt was growing stronger. It woke him up a bit, but not nearly as much as seeing a hunched figure on the cliffside before him, draped in a sheer white robe and dark red pajamas. 

Now, sitting beside Roman, watching the way his tan skin seems to reflect the moonlight, there’s something so tragically beautiful about the scene - Virgil imagines his sweatpants and weathered t-shirt do little to add to that aesthetic. 

“Do you like stars?” the prince says suddenly, eyes twinkling as Virgil tears his gaze from the sky. 

“Yeah. I like the sky.” The anxious Side takes a deep breath and traces constellations in his head. “There’s a lot up there, though, not just stars; planets and asteroids and robots-”

“You sound like Logan,” Roman chuckles. 

Virgil’s nose scrunches up. “Yeah, I don’t doubt it.” He blinks at the sky, tilting his head to the side, as if the moon will notice and blink down at him, just to recognize his fascination. He knows Roman could actually make that happen, of course, but he keeps it to himself. 

“I love the ocean.” He glances over to see Roman staring at the water again, a shadow of a smile pulling at his mouth. 

“Why the ocean?” 

“It’s big.” Virgil snorts, and a smile finally makes its way to Roman’s face. “Bad wording, excuse me- it’s just… so _much_. There’s so much possibility. There’s a forest down there, you know, and animals we can’t even begin to fathom. I like to imagine what it’s like at the bottom when I can’t sleep.”

“Is that why you’re here?” Roman’s smile falls into a confused frown. “Right now, I mean. You came because you can’t sleep?” He doesn’t answer at first, but Virgil leans back with a sigh and adds quietly, “That’s why I came.” 

Roman stares at him for a second, expression unreadable, and nods. 

They don’t elaborate on it, either of them, and Roman gives a sudden chuckle, his eyes on the ocean once more. “They’re awfully similar, aren’t they? The sky and the ocean. I’ve never thought about that.”

A smile tugs at the corners of Virgil’s mouth. “One abyss to another.” 

“Ah, ever the optimist, huh?”

“You know it.”

Their laughter carries along the breeze as it fizzles out, draping them in silence once more- but when Virgil focuses, he finds it’s not nearly as silent as he thought. Leaves rustle behind him, whistling with the wind, and the water lulls a steady rhythm below them, almost in tandem with Roman’s even breathing. It almost seems unfair for the sky to be so quiet in such a melodic place.

But as his eyes drift closed, the smell of salt and the prince’s soft humming drifting around him, he’s more than happy with the ocean as his companion tonight. 


End file.
